Hunger, Homelessness and Despair, The Stark Reality of the Benefit Cap

It is hard to imagine a more poisonous piece of legislation than the lowered Benefit Cap, set to be introduced this Autumn, which will plunge quarter of a million children into desperate housing insecurity and possible homelessness.

This will be the third time that the Benefit Cap – which limits the weekly amount that can be received in benefits – has been lowered in just five years. In 2011 George Osborne capped Housing Benefit in a sweeping move which made much of central London unaffordable for those unable to work due to childcare responsibilities, sickness or unemployment. Then in 2013 benefits were capped further, at £500 a week for a family with children, extending the problem of unaffordability out to Greater London, the Home Counties and beyond, with many large cities seeing families affected. And now the cap is to be lowered again, to around £440 a week in London and £384 elsewhere.

On average this means families set to lose £60 a week according to an Impact Assessment published by the DWP last week and it will no longer be just a London problem. Leeds, Cardiff, Manchester, Glasgow and Bradford are all likely to have at least 1000 households affected whilst in Birmingham 3,900 households will face an abrupt cut in housing benefits. It is not the fault of struggling families that rents in the UK have soared out of reach in many areas which has led to the growing Housing Benefit bill. It is the result a failure to build enough low cost housing. But it is the poor who will pay.

The government claim the Benefit Cap has been a huge success, pointing to a series of evaluations that showed a small rise in the number of people subject to the cap who found work. But behind these celebratory statistics lies a bitter truth. It has become common, in evaluations of DWP policy, to use ‘job outcomes’ to justify any atrocity. Someone hangs themselves after being found fit for work and having their benefits stopped – well this is just fine because someone else got a job in Poundland. No other social policies would be evaluated this way. It is like testing a new drug and completely ignoring deadly side effects on the basis that a handful of people’s health had slightly improved.

With families facing eviction due to the Benefit Cap it has indeed forced many to desperately look for any job they can find. Those able to find between work, of between 16 and 30 hours a week depending on their circumstances, become exempt from the cap leading many to hound their employers for more hours, often unsuccessfully.

For the 18% of claimants affected by the Benefit Cap who are long term sick or disabled this of course has not been an option. Despite repeated lies from DWP ministers that disabled people are not affected by the cap this only applies to those with the most serious health conditions or disabilities. Claimants of the sickness and disability benefit Employment Support Allowance are not exempt from the cap if health assessors decide their condition may improve in the future. Many claimants are battling ill health as well as facing the prospect of losing their homes.

Neither is simply finding a job a realistic solution for those with very young children, or even babies. This hasn’t stopped many local councils simply shrugging off the upcoming trauma faced by those with young children who face losing their homes.

What the interviews with claimants do seem to suggest is that if the cap has had any impact at all, it has been to encourage lone parents to seek work before they felt their children were ready to be left alone.

These were parents who intended to go back to work anyway. Others have had dreams of furthering their education shattered by the cap.

Sometimes it has not been the claimant themselves who was affected.

Rarely has government policy had such a devastating impact on children’s lives. Behind the lauded ‘job outcomes’ lies a trail of destitution. Countless families have reported being left without enough money for food. Huge numbers are in rent arrears. Many have been forced to move – at the time of the most recent evaluation 10% of households had moved house due to the cap. These evaluations were carried in 2014 however, meaning many families covered by the reports would have only been subject to the cap for a short period. The growing rise in homeless families, especially in London, points to the devastating long term impact of the Benefit Cap.

Punishing children with homelessness because of the eye-watering rents demanded by landlords is a new low for even the Tory Party, but it is the upcoming lowering of the cap which will perhaps inflict the greatest cruelty. According to last week’s impact assessment, “those already capped at £26,000 will have the new, lower, cap applied to them.” This is estimated to be around 22,000 households. These are families that may have already moved to a cheaper area and are just starting to get their lives back on track. They are the families featured in the quotes that accompany this piece. Some of the poorest people in the UK, already struggling to survive and raise their children.

And now the government is coming for them again. Imagine explaining to a young child just settling into a new school, who may have recently faced a spell in temporary housing that they now have to go through it all again. A child just starting to make friends to replace the ones they lost due to the last forced relocation will now be looking at a future in yet another new school, or even another new city.

Most of those facing the Benefit Cap are women, usually lone parents. Black and Ethnic Minority families are hugely over-represented amongst those affected, as are disabled people. For those unable to find work or increase their hours their options are stark. Many have only been able to stay in their homes due to Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) paid by local authorities to families facing imminent homelessness. These payments will not last forever and are increasingly being used to meet the cost of housing families in temporary accommodation. A recent homelessness update from Westminster Council (H/t @nearlylegal) showed that around half of the borough’s spend on DHP’s is paying for temporary accommodation for those made homeless due to the benefit cap. It is only now that Local Authorities are starting to feel the impact of the Benefit Cap introduced in 2013. With a new further cut set to pile on the pressure even further homelessness amongst those with children could soar to levels not seen in generations in the UK.

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Hitting the poorest and most vulnerable in society like this is just sick. Again and again, without any regards to children’s welfare, the Tories in government melt out punishing cuts like they’re going out of fashion.

I’m still surprised that they have not made poor children sweep the streets or clean up litter as a punishment. For most people being poor is not a lifestyle choice – it is just how it is.

The poorest and vulnerable will never be helped out their situation under Tory May. The bitch harps on about social unfairness, but it’s a smoke screen to look like she cares for all the people and not just looking after the few rich Tory donors her party relies on.

That’s the Tory future in the UK – talk about helping the poor whilst in reality kicking them down. None of these Tory bastards of course believe in social welfare, justice or the NHS – it’s too much like socialism for their liking.

I can’t imagine how much stress these families will go through with this. I brought my kids up on my own and while I was always skint, at least I always knew my rent and council tax was paid. To worry about losing your home when you have young children is shocking. The callousness of this government, in particular Iain Duncan Smith, is worse than anything Thatcher ever did.

To introduce it at any time is despicable, but in November, this will make sure they have a shit Christmas as well as being sick with fear that they will be homeless by the New Year.

I read about the effects of this last year on SPeye. Joe Halewood reckons at least 700,000 kids will be at immediate risk of homelessness. How the hell are the local authorities going to find emergency accomodation for that many people. I did write to my MP about it at the time, but I never got the courtesy of a reply.

Since 2010 under the coalition and now Conservative administration the number of British citizens being referred to food banks has increased exponentially, with welfare reform cited as the main driver responsible for this national disgrace. When challenged by interested parties the Department of Work and Pensions has in the past often used the line: “The reasons people use food banks are complex.” I have seen this sentence traipsed out serially, particularly in respect to problems associated with Universal Credit’s extraordinarily long application process, now beginning to be recognised as potentially disastrous for claimants without savings and/or not coming from salaried occupations, e.g., workers on zero-hour contracts, people doing piece work, on weekly wages, or working casualised irregular hours and similar. Men and women in this category will undoubtedly find Universal Credits month and a half or more delay before receipt unsupportable. To my way of thinking it is these very people, denied the security and predictability of a monthly wage, who will turn out to be the most likely people to end up having to apply for Universal Credit at some point during the course of their lives.

My questions are simple:

(1) Is welfare reform one of the drivers behind increasing food bank usage? Or does the DWP claim that welfare reform had little or no negative impact on the millions of people affected by it?

(2) What actually are the nebulous and inexplicit “complex reasons” which the DWP cites as causing millions of people to have to resort food banks in modern 21st century Britain? Why are such very large and increasing numbers of British citizens now using food banks than did formerly pre-2010? It cannot possibly be that more people know about the existence of food banks these days than knew of them before: the astonishing increase in food bank usage by members of the public belies such a simple explanation as that.

I have absolute confidence that the DWP, under its duty of care, will have looked into these matters via its own impact assessments and similar and cannot believe that the department is completely clueless as per the reasons behind the extraordinary escalation in food bank usage and/or has no opinion whatsoever in respect to the food bank phenomenon which it is unwilling to share with an interested, and in many cases horrified, public.

…………Handing the Private Health Insurance Industry the chance to rob the unfortunate while bolstering huge profits.

May’s new director of policy, John Godfrey, is a keen advocate of what in his last job, at financial services giant Legal and General, he called “Beveridge 2.0”: using technology to introduce new forms of social insurance.

Godfrey told a campaigning group, the Financial Inclusion Commission, last year that the systems used to deliver auto-enrolment, the scheme that ensures all low-income workers have a pension, could also be used to help the public insure themselves against unexpected events.

“There is a clear lesson from auto-enrolment that if you have a plumbing network or an infrastructure that works, that auto-enrolment infrastructure could be used for other things which would encourage financial inclusion: things like, for example, life cover, income protection and effective and very genuine personal contributory benefits for things like unemployment and sickness,” he said. “They can be delivered at good value if there is mass participation through either soft compulsion or good behavioural economics.”

As an example he suggested that a worker earning £27,000, who paid in 0.5% of their earnings, or £11 a month, could then be entitled to claim 40% of their income for 12 months if they fell sick – perhaps two to three times what they might get on the existing contributory employment support allowance.

Such new social insurance products would not replace universal credit, the means-tested welfare system championed by Iain Duncan Smith, which is currently being rolled out across the UK – but they could supplement it.

End the contracts with Atos, Capita and maximus as they are not fit for purpose.

I and many other vulnerable people are getting wrongly assessed by Atos, Capita and Maximus they dont listen to what you have to say also they can be intimidating and contradict what doctors and hospital consultants say also they dont take complaint seriously, there putting lives at risk with lies.

‘I’ve had a heart attack, two strokes and my kidneys are failing…but I’ve still been told I’m fit to work’

Former scientist Phil Williams from Caernarfon said he was devastated to find out he’ll be stripped of his disability benefits after a recent Government assessment

A former scientist who has to undergo 12 hours of dialysis treatment a week because his kidneys are failing has been told he is fit to work.

Philip Williams, 56, from Caernarfon has been plagued by health problems in recent years including kidney failure, loss of hearing and ulcerative colitis – which brings on bouts of extreme diarrhoea and vomiting.

He received a letter from the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) on Monday saying that his Disability Living Allowance will be stopped next month after a recent medical assessment deemed him ineligible for benefits.

A nurse visited Mr Williams around six weeks ago to carry out an assessment using a points system to determine whether or not he is able to cope around the house alone.

But Mr Williams now feels that the nurse was “unqualified to carry out the assessment” due to her lack of experience in his particular illness.

Mr Williams said that he feels “disgusted” by their decision and claims that DWP made no attempt to contact his GP or renal consultant about his illnesses.
Mr Williams says he’s concerned about his future after being told he is set to be stripped of his disability benefits

He said: “I was so shocked when I read the letter, it floored me.

“I don’t know how they can make this decision without even speaking to my doctor, it’s made me so angry.

“I’m really worried about it all and I’m just so tired and upset.

“I’m still speechless about it now, I can’t quite take it in.

“Something like this can make someone want to give up on their treatment all together, and without treatment people die.

This article is shocking but completely true. I have to add that talking to many people about what is going on in Welfare reform the most shocking thing is that the majority are either completely ignorant due to the mainstream media being complicit in a major cover up of Tory hate crimes against the poor, or they really don’t care. The problem is we have adopted a materialistic hedonistic way of life that leaves no room for compassion. People have been indoctrinated from an early age by the system that all that matters is looking after number one and that is exactly how it is now. The chance of people rising up together and saying stop this cruelty is next to zero because the establishment through both New Labour and the Tories have been systematically eroding the right to free and spontaneous protest. Everything is now linked in to “if you are against us you must be terrorists” so dissent is being slowly but surely crushed and a totalitarian system introduced by stealth. With the increased internet censorship also in the pipeline it won’t be long before sites like this are censored for inciting hatred against the state or some other trumped up false narrative. I am afraid that the future will be very bleak for the poorest with no welfare state and no NHS because people no longer work together for the common good but only for there own selfish capitalistic gain.

You’re a tuned in guy Truthteller and what you say here just sums it up. All the moronic fishbait in society think about is the ‘X-Factor’, where they can go on their summer holidays, or what their next car is going to be. All based on material possessions and accumulation of shite that leads to nothing in the end but emptiness. All this obsession with material possessions and stuff can never lead to true happiness anyway. But these muppets are so friggin’ stupid they don’t see that. Then, after they’ve bought the new car and are paying it up and having to work extended hours in a job they hate to pay for that and their mortgage and their summer holidays, they suddenly wake up one day, decide they hate their life and kill themselves. What was it all about eh?

Thanks Raining!
Have to agree that the majority “but not all” of the general public tend to be suckers for the moronic TV crap and news propaganda. The system is very good at brainwashing people from an early age to prepare them to be unthinking compliant fodder for the materialistic world view. We have been conditioned like the Donkey with a carrot on a piece of string hanging just out of reach, to keep marching forward expecting to catch it eventually whilst being exploited by it’s owner. We are not even allowed to retire now when we get older but are supposed to keep working until we drop dead at work. You would have to laugh if it wasn’t so shockingly evil in reality.

“Reports that say that something hasn’t happened are always interesting to me, because as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns – the ones we don’t know we don’t know. And if one looks throughout the history of our country and other free countries, it is the latter category that tend to be the difficult ones.”

Oh howdy Donald!
I was surprised to see you posting on here I expected you to be serving a life sentence in Prison for war crimes by now, but then realised that couldn’t possibly happen seeing as you are a former member of the USA government and therefore exempt from international justice.

Poverty is just another business venture for the so called “Charities” that have popped up since 2010.
I think this is what Cameron meant when he gushed over his “Big Society”.
Big money to be made on the backs of poverty through business, thinly disguised as charity.
Soon the UK will be one big festering charity, with all the money meant for the poor, going to HELP the poor, through tax haven charity “businesses”.

There is no national figure for how many people are homeless across the UK. This is because homelessness is recorded differently in each nation and because many homeless people do not show up in official statistics at all.

More than 70,000 tenants face average rent rises of more than £1,000 a year under the government’s “pay to stay” policy aimed at ensuring supposedly high earners living in social housing are charged market rents.

Councils have warned that nearly one in 10 social tenants in London and the south-east can expect rent rises, with those living in the capital facing an average monthly rent rise of £132.

A spokesman for the department said: “It’s simply not fair that hard-working people are subsidising the lifestyles of those on higher than average incomes, including tens of thousands of households earning £50,000 or more.

Don`t ya luv the new speak language that comes out of the mouths of these “spokesman/woman/alien types.
50 grand a year and living in a sink estate, ha ha what a joke, tens of thousands of households, oh fuck off.
Tens of thousands paying bedroom tax, more like.
For 50, 60 years council housing has been just that, one house has been paid for twice over, its never been subsidised, this is just divide and cause hatred speak.

So its not fair that the middle class of this country who pay taxes, provide for the poor and downtrodden, who live in a council house.
However it is also not fair that the poor and downtrodden who also pay taxes, pay for the lifestyle of the 50 grand a year council tenants.

Summin don`t add up there.
Disclaimer: not all council homes are on a sink estate, some of em are in very nice areas, in which the government are in the middle of trying to nudge out tenants.

I see you have read George Orwell 1984! New Speak indeed. The Tories have no qualms about ruining peoples lives by forcing them out of their homes, any means of persuasion will do no matter the consequences. There is a hidden agenda within this policy and that is that committed socialists who don’t believe in private home ownership will be forced to ditch their principles. It’s a sort of state sponsored humiliation exercise against principled people. A few union leaders including the late Bob Crow of the RMT refused to move out of their council houses as they were against the class system in general, and believed in the state control of all housing. He was hated with a passion by the Tories but remained true to his beliefs to the end. He was living proof you can earn a good salary and not abandon your beliefs. So different from the New Labour wannabees trying to overthrow Jermey Corbyn who will quickly jump on the House of Lords gravy train as soon as they lose their seats.

There are council houses and council houses though… 😉 As soon as a household is earning a decent salary they get to fuck out off their sink estate. In fact, they can’t wait to. All this talk about salaried professionals with huge incomes living on sink estates is a load of old cobblers!

Really the question of home ownership or not is a bit of a non-issue. When the great expansion of the building of council housing started just after WW2 it was seen by the government as a ‘good thing’ to provide housing for people that was of a good standard. Indeed, initially you had to qualify in order to be elligible for council housing, i.e. have a job, and provide guarantees etc, before you would even be considered. However, there was no restriction, in terms of how much money you earned, which seems to be the case now.

What is actually happening is that increasingly social housing providers (housing associations, councils) are becoming what is called ‘providers of last resort’ i.e. providing to those people who, for whatever reasons, can’t be housed by the private sector, mainly because they can’t afford the immorally high rents charged by the private sector. The reasons behind this policy are two-fold. Once you remove those on higher incomes, you also remove the more able, perhaps those who are able, have the time and are a lot less stressed and articulate to the point where they can take on the power that be, and challenge authority. Removing the more able in effect dumbs down tenants as a whole, and also, given that it’s becoming increasingly obvious that social housing providers are more and more aligning themselves with the likes of the DWP and running jobclubs etc, providing a source of cheap labour as those living in social housing can be pressured to take low paid skivvy jobs on pain of losing their homes. It’s also the case that when people are paying the whole rent themselves, i.e. not through housing benefit, they tend to be somewhat less accepting of poor service, or unjustified rent increases.

I think that anyone should be able to own their own home, if they so desire, but that no-one should be forced to to do that, or indeed, be forced to rent from a private sector provider (I’d like to see private renting abolished, and things happening to landlords that involve lamposts, along with the rest of the rentier class). I even have no objection to the sale of social housing, so long as it’s sold on a basis that the cost is the cost of building that house, and that the proceeds go to build a replacement. It may not be well known, but even in the former communist countries, the state actually started to encourage people to buy, or even better, build their own homes, as it freed the state from doing that. I don’t personally see that it’s important to have an ideologically restrictive policy on how people get homes, so long as everyone can avail themselves of a home, and that there is effectively no market for housing – which would be the case if there were enough homes to go around that were freely available.

We are being conned, and not just by the government, but also by social housing providers and the whole poverty industry as a whole. They are hugely expensive parasites, (a bit like the vast majority of politicians). Look at your weekly rent, if you live in social housing. Work it out to the amount you pay per year, and then multiply until you get what you estimate it cost to build the house/flat you live in and the cost of the land. Even if you consider that the price of land to build on has a grossly inflated value, and that you need to factor in the cost of staffing for the provider* it’s not going to take that many years before the place where you live is paid for.

You could even work it out on the old calculation that used to be used when considering the financing of council housing, which was on the basis of a 60 year mortgage, underwritten by central governement which provided good quality housing, (well that was the original idea, though high rise was a disaster) that needed no subsidy, and meant rents were very affordable to ordinary people. If you worked out the costs of building your home, including the land, adding sums for staff pay, insurance etc, and then divided it over a period of 60 years, even if you add interest, you’d be quite shocked at how low a figure you’d see as a per week charge. I know that I have provided a slightly simplistic equation here, but I don’t think I’m far from the mark. Of course, it could be done even more cheaply, if we simply expropriated all the land/empty properties!

*Usually not that much, on a per week basis, probably no more than £5 – and that’s taking into consideration that many of those staff are effectively useless as far as people like us are concerned, I mean, would you employ someone to run a jobclub?

I also don’t think owning your own house is a bad thing. Freedom of choice should be paramount. My point was definitely about the hidden agenda within Tory housing policy. Your point about the private rented sector I have covered before, in pointing out that Housing benefit is pushed as a benefit to help the low paid but is in reality a benefit for the greedy landlords. There are many buy to let landlords who’s rent charges are purely to cover the huge mortgages for the properties they buy and this is something that must be stopped. If we had a government that was prepared to make sure 50% of all new housing was council/social rented housing the affordability problems would soon come under control. We have as a country got ourselves in to a complete mess by making a house an investment opportunity instead of a place to live and this is why prices are so astronomically high and out of reach for most people.

A tweet today reveals dirty tricks by East Durham Homes with regard to the Benefit Cap that social tenants need to be aware of and it not immediately apparent.
ollow the link and you find the social (?) landlord is requesting the tenant calls them and give the landlord precise details of (a) your household composition, and (b) precise details of what welfare benefits you receive.

So what is the problem in that you ask?

Firstly, social landlords do NOT know either of these issues as they have never needed to know and a tenant does not have to inform the landlord of these issues.

Secondly, when you do inform your landlord, your landlord will then know if you are likely to be hit by the reducing Benefit Cap and by how much per week your Housing Benefit will be cut.

In short, the tenant will be telling their landlord that they are too great a financial risk given that the reducing Benefit Cap will cut the average social tenant households Housing Benefit by around £76 per week.

The landlord in the apparent guise of helping the tenant over the Benefit Cap reductions is actually helping itself and not the tenant.

If tenants need to know whether they will be affected then they should be contacting an independent advice agency such as the CAB but NOT by asking their landlord who has a very clear conflict of interest here.

In short all tenants can start by looking at this table below which gives the maximum amount of Housing Benefit you will receive broken down by your household composition.

August 25th 2016 The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is refusing to publish nine secret reviews into the deaths of benefit claimants, despite finally admitting that seven of them relate to people who took their own lives. DWP only released the information after Disability News Service (DNS) lodged a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). DWP has also admitted that five of the nine reviews – which all relate to deaths that took place in the 16 months from August 2014 to January 2016 – contain recommendations for improvements in the department’s policies or procedures

………..DWP POLICY, iT’S FAR CHEAPER TO LET CLAIMANTS DIE IN ORDER TO BRING DOWN THE COST OF THE WELFARE BILL, WHICH IN TURN WILL MAKE PRIVATISATION MORE ATTRACTIVE TO THE PARASITES THAT SCRIPT GOVERNMENT POLICY FROM THE SIDELINES…..

It has to be said….and I have said it many times…but say it again…..This is one truly evil and satanic regime we have at Westminster these days!
The MPs are so detached from reality, they really do not see the appalling damage these polices are causing. Some do see it, but don’t accept the reason. Will not listen to anyone, and chose to blame those having to live with the consequences. Others, know full well, and don’t care about the consequences.

To be blunt they all know full well the consequences but don’t care. Politicians are briefed by civil servants who break down the consequences/outcomes of each policy. They actually don’t have any excuses but of course are very adapt at making them up anyway.

The Civil Service also create (mathematical and statistical) ‘models’ so that the Minister in charge of the relevant department can ‘play around’ with different inputs and see the resultant input i.e. what if I increased sanctions to 10 years and reduced the benefits cap to £20 a week? What would be the resulting effect on homelessness? Hmm, let’s see 🙂 Wow, through the roof! 🙂 Fantastic 😀

This time next year we will see the full impact of all welfare cuts, almost every single cut will be in motion.
Where the fuck local councils are going to put half a million or more homeless families is going to be anyone`s guess, they can’t cope now.

We are all on the Titanic, and local councils have their heads up their ass, just rearranging the deckchairs for the government. Traitors!!!

Isn’t that just typical of the kind of hatred, ignorance and intolerance that we all post about on here all the time? The trolls try to deny it but there we go, it’s straight in front of their own eyes. Disgusting. I’m ashamed to be British sometimes when i read that stuff.

The UK’s social security system is rapidly becoming unfit for purpose, as successive cuts leave children and working age adults with an increasingly inadequate safety net for when families fall on hard times, according to a study.

Without an urgent overhaul, the crisis in living standards for poorer families will get worse over the next few years as their incomes deteriorate, while child poverty and inequality will rise sharply, even with strong economic growth, the study says.

6.
Use of the anti-malarial drug Mefloquine (Lariam) is not compatible with diving duty due to its
significant side effect profile, in particular, the risk of seizures. Any diver who has used Mefloquine
for any medical indication is Temporarily Medical Unfit (TMU) for Diving for 12 weeks after their last
dose. Therefore, any use of Mefloquine by military divers (to include military sports divers) must
be closely regulated to avoid any unintended adverse impact on a service-member’s availability for
military duties.

……………and this morning on the BBC (THE TORY GOVERNMENTS MOUTHPIECE), the highest ranking British General has admitted not taking this same drug because it gave his son depression…………

How many of our troops have gone into a theatre of war already suffering from the side effects of drugs that the government were fully aware had toxic repercussions?

This freedom of information request was sent three years ago.
What makes me more irate is the MOD has stated that the vast majority of troops are no longer prescribed this lethal cocktail, however, this means that some must still be……………

All this denial of GULF WAR SYNDROME and now the truth is slowly coming out.

Watch this space as important archived material goes walkabout from the corridors of power in order to deny compensation to our service personnel.

c.
Should they at any time experience what they believe to be Adverse Drug Events
(ADEs) from their antimalaria drugs, they are to seek medical advice as soon as possible,
but are not to stop their anti-malaria drugs without first obtaining such advice.

The MOD continually keeps under review its policy on the use of all antimalarial drugs in line with
advice from the Advisory Committee for Malaria Prevention (ACMP) of Public Health England. This
is a panel of national experts that meets at regular intervals, and continually reviews and updates
guidance for travellers from the United Kingdom. There has been a military representative on the
Committee since 1993.

Antimalarial drugs are licensed in the UK by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory
Agency, based on the expert guidance of the ACMP. If compelling evidence is produced from the
body of global scientific evidence regarding the toxicity of mefloquine or any other antimalarial drug,
then it is likely that the UK license would be reviewed and advice from the ACMP, that the MOD
follows, would change.

The ‘BBC’ – our ‘Voice of Truth’ whom we pay for, via our ‘TV Licence’ have,
this evening been peddling widely through, not only the National BBC transmissions, but also through ‘local’ outlets also, ‘The Paralympics’ and ‘The Paralympians’. Those ‘Paralympians’ who, through all of ‘their abverse conditions in society’ – have ‘battled through all of their adversities’ to achieve their ‘aims’ of going to ‘Rio’ to win ‘GOLD’
OF WHAT I SAW THIS EVENING, NOT ONCE DID THEY SAY THAT ALL DISABLED PEOPLE COULD ACHIEVE EVERYTHING – BUT- THEY DID SAY THAT ‘DISABLED PEOPLE’ COULD ACHIEVE EVERYTHING IF THEY PUT THEIR MIND TO IT!
This is the usual ‘mantra’ of the BBC (and their ‘Disabled People’s representative (?) Fox) – ABSOLUTELY FUCKING DISGRACEFUL
IT IS ALL PROPAGANDA BY THE BBC TO SUPPORT THE ‘TORIES’ AND THEIR DESPICAPLE POLICIES

I agree.
I fed up with r soles winning a gold medal or something, and then saying it just proves you can do anything if you try hard enough. No you fool the whole idea of these stupid games is to prove that almost no one can!

Quite right Paul! The BBC is a vehicle for Tory propaganda, it always has been and always will be but along with ITN and Sky who are also in the pockets of the establishment. This Paralympics propaganda is the latest fad. But don’t worry it will all be back to normal soon with Pro Royal Family non stories, anti Russian stories, anti Israel stories, and anti Corbyn stories. This morning it was all about the impeachment of Dilma Rousseff in Brazil with the BBC forgetting/omitting to mention she was overthrown by the CIA because she was a Socialist spending money on improving the lives of the poorest and she has been replaced by an un-elected right wing Yankee stooge who will cut all those programmes and help the wealthy stay in control. Does that sound familiar? Venezuela same thing. Ukraine same thing but slightly different, there the CIA helped overthrow the government and replaced it with fascist sympathisers to destabilise the Russian border. but it backfired badly. I am no supporter of Putin he is a bastard in his own right, but what the Americans really hate about him is he stopped them taking control of Russia’s oil and gas and forced the oligarchs to pay their taxes in Russia and not run off abroad with the countries wealth. Remember all mainstream news is propaganda in whatever country it comes out of. The powers that control countries want us to be compliant to their will so they can rely on us to fight and die in any future conflicts to protect their wealth under the guise of patriotism. Also this morning on BBC Radio 4 there was news of the upcoming junior doctors strike with all of the propaganda aimed at the doctors and none at the government who have caused this mess in the first place. I can tell you now that Jeremy Hunt doesn’t work 7 day shifts. He can’t be contacted at weekends if his constituents want to see him, but he does expect everyone else to be available whilst he takes it easy.http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2016/02/09/jeremy-hunt-junior-doctors-strike-telegraph-letter-weekend-working_n_9192684.html

“If you are ‘disabled’ – then you can achieve ‘anything’ if you really put your mind to it” – well, yes, this may be possible (if you are fully physically able), but so many people (as I see it) are not able to do this – if you are physically disabled (i.e: not ‘able-bodied’) then you may well not be able to do ‘anything’ without ‘help’. THESE PEOPLE WILL NOT EVER BE ABLE TO COMPETE IN THE STUPID ‘PARALYMPICS’
And – if they – (the ‘Paralympians’) do – are they going to lose their DLA/PIP awards? I would have thought that it is very possible in this day and age.
Surely (as far as ATOS & CAPITA etc are concerned) if ‘they’ can use their ‘arms’/’legs’ – then they are able to ‘work’!

Meanwhile – whilst BHS workers may well face losing all of their pensions, ‘surprise, surprise’ – ‘Sir’ Philip Green is still living the ‘high life’!
Forget the Government’s ‘Workplace Pension’ – the twat that is ‘Sir’ Philip Green and his cohorts (both now – and also in the future!) will TAKE ‘your pensions’ from you – at present, (in law) there is absolutely nothing that will prevent this from happening in the future.
Save for your future and ‘save’ for ‘your own pensions’
Do not let ‘Sir’ Philip Green or any other ’employers’ thieve all of ‘your’ pensions off of all of you.http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/ex-bhs-billionaire-sir-philip-8743331

Work and Health Programme should be devolved to local authorities, say councils.

Responsibility for the new Work and Health Programme (WHP) should be devolved to local authorities who are best placed to support disadvantaged jobseekers into work, say councils.

The Local Government Association (LGA), who represent more than 370 councils in England and Wales, say people with disabilities and health conditions would be supported into work more effectively if funding and responsibility for the WHP is devolved to all local areas.

The LGA is calling on the UK Government “to ensure it avoids repeating the mistakes of its flagship Work Programme”, amid concerns about the future of EU funding for unemployed people in England.

I suppose this might be better than having lousy companies like a4e creaming millions from the public purse to make life a misery for their “clients”. Question is: How will it be funded? It wouldn’t surprise me to see the Council Tax “contribution” now torn from the hands of benefit claimants increased to help pay for it.

Make the unemployed pay the wages of their own torturers and abusers. If that doesn’t go down well with a Tory government and all the haters that get off on programmes like “Benefits Street” them I’m a Dutchman.

The “flagship” Work Programme sank beneath the waves years ago. With so many local authorities strapped for cash the Work and Health Programme would come as a dream, enabling councils to have a virtually free pool of labour, with no worker’s rights, to draw on to do low skilled manual jobs, e.g., picking up litter, cleaning up parks and beaches, cutting grass etc. And if councils can use unpaid benefit claimants rather than paid employees, well, obviously, there will be fewer properly paid council employees and many, many, MANY more unpaid workfare draftees doing quite hard manual and probably clerical labour around the United Kingdom.

This e-mail has been issued to you in order to Officially inform you that we have completed an investigation on an International Payment in which was issued to you by an International Lottery Company. With the help of our newly developed technology (International Monitoring Network System) we discovered that your e-mail address was automatically selected by an Online Balloting System, this has legally won you the sum of $2.4million USD from a Lottery Company outside the United States of America. During our investigation we discovered that your
e-mail won the money from an Online Balloting System and we have authorized this winning to be paid to you via INTERNATIONAL CERTIFIED BANK DRAFT.

Normally, it will take up to 5 business days for an INTERNATIONAL CERTIFIED BANK DRAFT by your local bank. We have successfully notified this company on your behalf that funds are to be drawn from a registered bank within the world winded, so as to enable you cash the check instantly without any delay, henceforth the stated amount of $2.4million USD has been deposited with IMF.

We have completed this investigation and you are hereby approved to receive the winning prize as we have verified the entire transaction to be Safe and 100% risk free, due to the fact that the funds have been deposited with IMF you will be required to settle the following bills directly to the Lottery Agent in-charge of this transaction whom is located in Cotonou, Benin Republic. According to our discoveries, you were
required to pay for the following,

(1) Deposit Fee’s ( IMF INTERNATIONAL CLEARANCE CERTIFICATE )
(3) Shipping Fee’s ( This is the charge for shipping the Cashier’s Check to your home address)

The total amount for everything is $96.00 We have tried our possible best to indicate that this $96.00 should be deducted from your winning prize but we found out that the funds have already been deposited IMF and cannot be accessed by anyone apart from you the winner, therefore you will be required to pay the required fee’s to the Agent in-charge of this transaction

In order to proceed with this transaction, you will be required to contact the agent in-charge ( Christopher Harris ) via e-mail. Kindly look below to find appropriate contact information:

CONTACT AGENT NAME: Mr. Christopher Harris
Email; christopherharris726@gmail.com
PHONE NUMBER: +229-66043617
You will be required to e-mail him with the following information:

You will also be required to request Western Union or Money Gram details on how to send the required $96.00 in order to immediately ship your prize of $2.4million USD via INTERNATIONAL CERTIFIED BANK DRAFT from IMF, also include the following transaction code in order for him to immediately identify this transaction : EA2948-910.

This letter will serve as proof that the Federal Bureau Of Investigation is authorizing you to pay the required $96.00 ONLY to Mr.Christopher Harris via information in which he shall send to you,

Mr. JAMES COMEY
Federal Bureau of Investigation F B I
Yours in Service,Photograph of Director
JAMES COMEY

You have just proved a point I have always made about the USA even taking in to consideration your post could be made in jest. Even our Tory governments are deemed Socialist in the American mind due to years of brainwashing throughout the cold war and on in to the current world situation. “Reds under every bed”, is how the USA scared it’s people away from really looking into what socialism is all about. The fear factor was also used in the recent UK referendum on Europe but this time the people got wise. Americans need to get wise as well. In one of my other posts on here I made the point about how the USA now needs enemies so has re-branded Russia a threat even though they are not capable of attacking the USA nor would they want to. As I stated there, the only reason the USA government really hate Putin is he halted the takeover of Russian assets and the flow of wealth out of the country and made the corrupt Oligarchs pay there taxes in Russia. Putin is a bastard no doubt, but no worse than any USA leader.

Like you I agree about Trump, however the way the British media attack him whilst ignoring the criminal activities of Clinton is beyond a disgrace. Deliberate suppression of negative coverage of Clinton because they hate Trump is plain wrong. And the stupid thing is the British people can’t vote in the US presidential election anyway so why bother to try and influence them like this.

Clinton is intelligent and sane whatever else she is. The fascination with Trump as far as the British go is based around the astounding fact that the Republicans have ended up with a moronic, crude, sexist, ignorant, boorish, egotistical bully and thug, who makes political capital by advocating violence and hate as their presidential candidate. I don’t think anybody outside of America can understand how from a nation of over three hundred million souls, with more than its fair share of the brilliant and the best, could have ended up with such a complete and utter arsehole being fielded by a respectable political party as their candidate for the White House – the same fascination basically that inspired people to take a penny tour of Bedlam in the 17th century to see the antic of the loonies.

God help us all if a waste of skin like Donald Trump ever became the leader of the free world. And America made the laughing stock for the whole wide world, free or otherwise.

Does it not worry you at all that Clinton revels in war and the murder of innocents. The revelations from the leaked emails link her to underhand if not down right criminality. This is sane and intelligent behaviour is it? Clinton on the murder of Col Gadaffi “we came we saw he died” Also Colonel Muammar Gaddafi died after being stabbed with a bayonet in the anus. She knew this but revelled in his death. She never mentions how many civilians were killed by Nato Air Strikes, she laughs that off as well. Take a good look at the state of Libya now to what is was, and then tell me how good Clinton is. Everything you aimed at Trump is just as valid for Clinton she is every bit as bad.

Except Clinton has a brain and Trump hasn’t. Trump is a four-time bankrupt very dodgy businessman turned reality star, who has skipped the coup umpteen times leaving large numbers of employees unpaid and in the lurch, with a very shady past, right from the moment he inherited his fortune from his slum landlord father. So if I had to pick someone to have their finger on the button of the biggest nuclear arsenal and most powerful armed forces the world has ever seen I would much prefer pretty much anybody other than Trump and would definitely approve of another Clinton presidency this time around over the unthinkably odious alternative.

Clinton isn’t morally perfect but would be competent in office in my opinion.

Haha, we haven’t really ever had ‘socialist’ policies in the UK, though there have been periods when social security has been much better, and acted as a much more comprehensive safety net than it does now. The policies once followed in the UK were about the same as those being demanded by the likes of Bernie Sanders in the USA. He is left-leaning, and about as ‘socialist’ as Jeremy Corbyn is in the UK – not very socialist, more with a social conscience, and certainly with his heart and head in the right place, and going in the right direction.

Things aren’t quite so bad here as they are in the USA, but given our current nasty government, it won’t be long before the UK is just like the USA, though paradoxically the USA may be by then trending towards a system similar to that which existed in the UK in the 1960s and 1970s. I’d suggest watching the films of Michael Moore for a better critique of what’s happening in the USA.

The Conservation ‘Volunteers’ are busy felling trees up and down the country to make way for community allotments. If they ever come knocking asking you to get involved in their money-making schemes, remind them of their involvement in the government’s workfare schemes. Some info here:

Roach: “And before you go by your next appointment I expect you to have registered with Universal Jobmatch and uploaded a public CV. You will also need to tick the boxes giving the DWP access to your account..”

From the ‘What Do They Know?’ site –
FOI made on the rights or Wrongs of such a demand.

Annotation from F. Zola recommends the affected person asks for the demands in writing (they may forget/misunderstand what’s being requested of them) – including details/information about potential risks of not complying/(‘sanction’ risk).

When the new UJobbie was imminent & Monster site was discussed, with potential 2-way access, JCP- (then) Advisor said it was acceptable in the same way the (quite numerous) CVTV cameras on the street outside were, and if the roles were reversed she’d be happy to allow access to her (JCP- version of) online work search. Then she left.

Jobcentre employees are not the sharpest tacks in the box. (I actually had to explain to one of them how to use a search field to find a qualification I possessed when updating my details on her system.) Obviously being monitored in a public place is not the same as being monitored on-line by the DWP since the former applies to everybody passing CCTV cameras and the latter only to the activity of people forced by Jobcentres to use Universal Jobmatch. Not the same thing at all. To be honest the general stupidity of Jobcentre staff never ceases to amaze me. How on earth did such people ever manage to secure paid employment in the civil service? No wonder that there are so many mistakes and so many people sanctioned erroneously.

Any sanction is “erroneous” (read unjust) – there”s no random series of accidental, unfortunate events happening week on week. No-one thinks what’s happenlng is ‘by mistake’ if they’ve spent longer than 5 minutes being patronised or ‘helped’ by the DWP.

“EVERYBODY IN THE UK SHOULD TELL THE BBC TO SHOVE THEIR TV LICENSE UP THEIR ARSE”

Who asked for a state propaganda channel that shoots the shit of government policy at every chance?

The BBC and other fountains of crap have no place in the democracy of our country. Story after story of Tory bile so prejudiced it’s now got completely out of hand……………….

If i don’t want the Jehovah’s or upvc product salesmen knocking on my door, i just ignore them.
It’s totally different when you are blackmailed into buying a license for a channel that no fucker really wants so desperately.

Ask yourselves why should we buy a license to receive doctored news stories?
Doctored to such an extent that thousands are now saying the same thing, that the BBC are not fit to be a state broadcaster and should be binned.

The BBC is the biggest pisstaker when it comes to blowing your hard earned cash. Just how many attended the free for all jolly up in RIO?

………….and what about their policy on blowing huge cash amounts on ridiculous salaries to the shithouses at the top and the same old, same old characters that seem to adorn the screens every time you switch on.

Get rid of the greedy bile spouting propaganda machine once and for all. They can’t take everyone to court for voicing dissent,

“EVEN TODAY, MEDIA HORROR STORIES ABOUT JUNIOR DOCTORS TAKING ACTION”

………..JEREMY HUNT SHOULD BE LYNCHED FOR EVERY PATIENT DEATH THAT MAY OCCUR WHILE TRYING HIS UTMOST TO SELL OFF OUR JEWEL IN THE CROWN, NHS, TO THE PARASITES PULLING HIS STRINGS…….

Absolutely spot on Geoff.
The majority of the U.K. support the junior doctors and realise the criminal acts of one man not fit to tie their shoelaces. Despite all the hype, the economy is shrinking fast, everybody in the same boat, brassic.
Our BBC has been transformed into a state airbrush that conveniently erases the poverty and pestilence, the homeless, disabled and poor.
The BBC are aiding and abetting the most corrupt government in years to Ethnically cleanse those who are least able to put up a fight.

It is no different to Lord Haw Haw who preached hatred and finally went quiet at the gallows.

The BBC licence is like parting with money to be pissed upon from a great height!

You see Toddy, what you have to take into account is that the reporters (not sure that’s what they really are) at the BBC and other establishment news channels are from the Thatcher era and her legacy. They were brought up with her values of looking after number one, greed and selfishness. They don’t care if the NHS is destroyed they will have private health insurance. They also know full well from the articles written over the years by Tory ministers and MP’s that most if not all are ideologically opposed to the whole concept of free healthcare. Free healthcare means that poor people don’t need to worry about the cost of getting treatment and thus is bad to the Tories as there is no chance to profit from peoples suffering. Capitalism needs the majority of people to be financially vulnerable so they are easier to exploit. It’s a well proven fact that people in countries with a good quality welfare state are happier, healthier and therefore less vulnerable to exploitation. In 2009 Daniel Hannon wrote some articles saying how he thought the NHS was a big mistake and David Cameron was forced to slap him down for speaking openly about what is really the deep seated hatred of free healthcare within the Tory Party. This is what always happens, a Tory member will forget to keep his prejudices to himself and then a big denial and cover up is initiated. It’s quite funny when it happens but scary to know the UK public still accept the apologies and cover ups so easily. As for the BBC well that’s easy, as it was then, so is it now. Just don’t cover the story and the general public are non the wiser. Better to give them a steady diet of non news such as Royal stories or whats happening in reality TV or the soap operas than any real news.

“7) He loves paper… it’s the key to your success. If you’ve watched any episodes you’ll notice that if you can prove your case with a sign receipt or contract, you’ll mostly likely win the case against your opponent.” – good tip for anyone unfortunate enough to be dealing with the DWP and their collaborators – make them put it in writing!

Apparently Rinder is a marathon runner and fitness fanatic. On of the Strictly professionals described him as “ripped” so if he turns out to be strong and fit plus flexible and slim he might actually turn out to be a really good amateur dancer.

Indeed! Rinder looks as fit as a fiddle, he is well- ripped, Balls or somebody pulled his shirt up, no doubt on purpose! You can imagine Rinder as a top-of-the-Christmas-tree fairy, ballet dancer in a pink dress. On the other hand Ed Balls just looks like a two-left feet clumsy fat oaf. Expect Rinder to do well, if not win it!

Please provide an explanation to the public on how one of your employees , on 9/11/2001 stated that WTC Building 7 which was called the “Salomon Brothers” fell around 20 to 30 minutes before the actual event happened? This could/would suggest you had Inside knowledge.

Don’t insult my intelligence by refusing due to “art and journalisim, literature” or some other nonsense.

YOU WAS AWARE OF THE COLLAPSE 10-20 MINUTES PRIOR TO THE BUILDING FALLING. (YOU ACTUALY BROADCAST IT LIVE)
THE PUBLIC HAS A RIGHT TO KNOW HOW AND, MORE IMPORTANTLY “WHY” THIS WAS THE CASE.

In light of the upcoming publication of the Chilcot Report and the BBC’s coverage of its contents, I request information regarding controls in place to manage conflicts of interests between various senior individuals now working at the BBC who, at the time of the Iraq invasion, were closely associated with Tony Blair and Jack Straw. The request is also made to establish what dialogue has already taken place relating to the contents of the Chilcot Report between the named individuals below and key individuals internal and external to the organisation identified at the end of this request .

Those concerned are

James Purnell
Former special advisor to Tony Blair and Labour MP who voted in favour of the invasion of Iraq and against an investigation into the war. He is now understood to be the senior executive responsible for the BBC’s press office and public affairs teams.
.

Clare Sumner
Former private secretary to Tony Blair and named in evidence supplied to the Hutton Inquiry as an individual involved in the government’s response to the BBC’s coverage of the decision to take part in the invasion of Iraq. Ms Sumner is now chief of staff to the BBC’s Director General and assumed chief complaints editor (a role undertaken by her predecessor). Being chief complaints editor suggests some responsibility over the BBC’s chief complaints advisor.
.

Alice Perkins
BBC non-executive director and wife of Jack Straw
..

Godric Smith
Spokesperson for Tony Blair at the time of the invasion and now PR consultant to the BBC’s Director General
.

Clearly these individuals are not involved in programme making but are in positions of influence over the Director General regarding the BBC’s internal and external response to the report.

Given that there is strong likelihood that the Chilcot report will provoke considerable reaction within the general public, it is therefore likely (rightly or wrongly) that some degree of complaint about BBC coverage is inevitable. My request seeks clarification on how such complaints will be assessed without bias given the arbitrators’ close personal connections to the events discussed and those due to be criticised in the report.

Additionally, internal briefings and discussions are likely to take place regarding the contents of the report including measured assessment of the public, political and press reaction. There is also potential for BBC journalists to undertake future investigations into the findings of the report. The named individuals would ordinarily be privy to such information and in position to influence any BBC response*. This request again seeks clarification on measures in place to ensure how this privileged confidential insight will not then be shared directly with Mr Blair and Mr Straw and their associates, therefore giving them a media advantage not afforded to others.

Please provide all details of the arrangements in place to mitigate conflicts of interest arising the named individuals above around these processes.

Requested information includes

i. Information in any written form including emails, meeting notes, minutes and text messages concerning the Chilcot report and the above named individuals. This information could be to/from these individuals themselves or to/from employees with the following roles or responsibilities – the Director General (Tony Hall) or staff working within his office, press office (John Shield), editorial policy director (David Jordan), chief political advisor (Rick Bailey), chief complaints advisor (Dominic Groves), chairman of the Trust (Rona Fairhead) or staff working on her behalf within the BBC Trust, director of news (James Harding), director of HR, the head of the editorial complaints unit. Please also include the same information to and from staff of Portland Communications. This request extends to the use of personal email addresses and texts where the BBC is discussed.

ii. The relevant completed conflict of interest forms/statements relating to this matter

* NB The context of the request is that the BBC coverage at the time regularly forms part of the historical narrative of the events leading to the decision for the UK to take part in the war. It is used regularly as an example of Tony Blair and Jack Straw’s attempts to misrepresent intelligence thereby manipulating parliament and the public about the legitimacy of the evidence supporting the invasion e.g. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/pol…. It is therefore anticipated that the BBC’s press office will receive media requests from other outlets following release of the report and that the report will be discussed at high levels of the organisation.

Dear British Broadcasting Corporation,
Please tell me the cost of sending the 455 accredited personnel to provide TV & radio coverage of the 2016 Olympic Games.In addition,what was the comprable cost in 2012?

The tories are loving every minute of the persecution they’re inflicting on the working class of our land, they are in hog’s heaven right now, it turns them on but then what would you expect from a bunch of perverts who are into all things sick and twisted, treating people like crap is just another turn on for them!
It’s high time the morons of our country woke up to realise what devastation the tories are doing to real people and do something about it instead of the usual British response by doing bugger all!

When asked by the BBC whether she was concerned that her work might be manipulated for political gain, she replied: “Of course I worry, but all the work I’ve ever done, both medically and in the reviews I’ve done for government – and I think they know this – have [sic] been as evidence-based as I could possibly make them”

But what would you suggest the people actually do? All the new laws enacted against terrorism have been extended to cover any form of protest as a catch all to prevent dissent. The police film anyone involved and single them out for special measures in the future. They even prevent people standing in the street and preaching from the Bible. You can hardly count that as a terrorist offence. When I was young there was always some form of spontaneous protest occurring but now the organisers are expected to get permission from the police first. I mean what sort of freedom and democracy is this?

Bailiff action against the poorest residents rocketed by 50 per cent in one year in London as councils adopted a get-tough approach to people struggling to cope with benefit cuts, new figures reveal.

In 2015/16, 19,000 of the poorest households in London were referred to enforcement agents or bailiffs by local authorities over unpaid council tax – a meteoric rise of 51 per cent in 12 months – according to figures unearthed under the Freedom of Information Act by Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) and the Zacchaeus 2000 Trust (Z2k).

The affected households are recipients of Council Tax Support (CTS), a benefit payment made to the poorest members of society in order to help meet their council tax bills.

Anon
I worked for Maximus. I have also worked for DWP and this is what I know.
Working for Maximus our targets were severe. I worked with the long term unemployed and those in receipt of ESA who fell into the WRAG group.
When we got a customer into work – or should I rephrase that; when they found work which was often the case, Maximus would receive a payout dependent on that persons benefit, time out of work or vulnerability. For example. An ex offender who had recently left prison for a CAT A or B offence and had found work part time as a warehouse operative within 3 weeks of being transferred to the WPP reaped in a reward of £35,000 for Maximus.
That is ONE customer.
Another example: A customer who had been in receipt of ESA support who had voluntarily opted for WPP found work himself as a waiter full time with no help from Maximus, yet they received £16,500 payout from the government.
The staff were paid no bonus, commission but a salary of £23k a year.
They do not have to deal with the benefits, housing or council parts of the role.

Now, the DWP side of it is benefits, referrals to housing, council, support groups as well as giving support to customers within all those levels.
My role at JCP was as a personal advisor and the targets were always concerning returning people to work regardless.

In both companies my ethics were to the customer for the customer and that is the reason I never got on with the companies ideals that money mattered over people.

Now what peeves me is the fact that these private companies do the SAME as what a civil servant would do and get so much paid to them from the government coffers that the country could save so much more by firing them and reverting back to traditional people working for the government to begin with.

The JCP and DWP are complete c8nts and always will be. No amount and number of work programme and new deal schemes will help people back into work. If the jobs are simply not there due to business cut-backs or closure, not even the wicked witch Granny May PM can wave out jobs of thin air with her airy-fairy magic wand.

On a connected somewhat note, I read my new full contract with my employer and was peeved to read in black and white that I will only get an extra £1.80 per hour as overtime rates if I was to put in some overtime. I thought hourly overtime rates was equal to half the amount of minimum wage is – I.e. £3.60 per each extra hour worked outside normal contracted timed hours.

Employers no longer have to pay overtime rates at all, if they choose not to. However they must pay at least the minimum/Living (Ha, Ha, Ha, sorry that one always gets me) wage. This is why we should never have allowed Thatcher to destroy the Trades Unions as they guaranteed the employers negotiated a fair rate of overtime.

Overtime has also been paid at the rate of time and a quarter Monday to Friday, time and a half on a Saturday and double time on a Sunday. This is on top of your normal contracted hours though, so if you were working Saturday as part of your contracted hours you would be paid time and a half and if you worked a Sunday as part of your contracted hours you would be paid double time.

The police probably get quadruple pay for working on a Sunday! The police, especially the CID since they have more opportunity, like to begin ‘investigations’ just as their shift nears the end, so they can coin in the ‘overtime’.

Smokers and obese people will be denied surgery on the NHS by cash-strapped hospitals trying to save money, senior health officials have warned.

Vale of York Care Commissioning Group has announced it will make people wait up to a year for non-essential surgery if they are overweight, until their body mass index (BMI) drops to 30. The group said the decision has been made as “the best way of achieving maximum value from the limited resources available”.

The Royal College of Surgeons has described the decision as “the most severe the modern NHS has ever seen” amid concerns the NHS’ funding crisis is seriously impeding its ability to function.

And the next step: Put people in paid work above the unemployed in waiting lists for procedures, treatments and surgery. Justification: Tax payers fund the NHS and the sooner we get them back to work the sooner their taxes will begin to be collected to fund public services benefiting everybody.

(And if the unemployed suffer longer and die in greater numbers so be it!)

@Virago
“Taxpayers fund the NHS” – do you also mean all of those taxpayers who pay the Tory Tax? In other words all of us? Sorry Virago, we are ALL taxpayers with the unemployed, the sick and the retired paying far more than their fair share of that most regressive of taxes: VAT. “Mission creep” now means that most foods now attract the 20% Tory Tax with only the basic staples remaining zero-rated……………for now.

“Around 6,000 people lose their lives every year because we do not have a proper 7-day service in hospitals. You are 15% more likely to die if you are admitted on a Sunday compared to being admitted on a Wednesday.”

I request under the Freedom of Information act:
1) Please state who provided Jeremy Hunt with i) the ‘6000’ figure, and ii) the 15% figure. Please also state which entity (for example NHS England) they were from.
2) Please state when and how (e.g. email etc ) i) the 6000 figure, and ii) the 15% figure, were provided to the Jeremy Hunt and when they were provided to the Department of Health, if earlier.
3) Please provide the emails (or other communications) which provided the department of health with i) the 6000 figure, and ii) the 15% figure.

Please provide any attachments with emails. If any information is removed under any exemptions, please state how much is removed or any number of complete emails removed. Please do not hold back whole emails under exemptions, and consider providing redacted versions instead. If an exemption apples to parts of this request (eg part 3) do not apply it to the whole request (eg also part 1). Please remember the FOIA limit of £600 is for finding and retrieving relevant information only, not for deciding if any of it falls under an exemption, nor for the time taken in redacting it.

The Digital passport will be a voluntary scheme so don’t worry too much. But that said, like you I don’t trust any politician to stick by that for long. As for the Open Knowledge Library, won’t ever happen unless the Labour party is serious about a massive curtailing of the power of the copyright maximalists. Copyright is far too powerful and in the ongoing process of locking up digital knowledge and culture for ever, behind paywalls, if they get their way. I can’t see any government taking them on because of the financial power they wield over world governments. The sentiments in the paper are good but very weak to start with and what is really needed is a radical shift in power to the people over the establishment.

A warning to us all, thanks very much. a lot more misery ahead then. & thanks for the setup.

Theresa May warns that there are ‘difficult times ahead’ as Britain leaves the EU.

“I’m not going to pretend that it’s all going to be plain sailing. I think we must be prepared for the fact that there may be some difficult times ahead,” she told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show in a prerecorded interview to be aired on Sunday morning.

One thing is for certain, if Vaz is investigated by the Parliamentary Standards Committee, the Police or Judiciary, expect a complete whitewash and a gong in the near future which will enable a quick transition into the £300 per day thrift club where checking in for twenty minutes enjoys full membership rights ………………..

It don’t matter any more, prozzies and whore houses will be legalized soon, and UC will do the top up payments, everyones ass will be up for sale. Don’t matter if you are in a wheelchair or paralyzed, no excuse.
Shag em,…or get sanctioned.
Legal bordellos coming ” pardon the pun” to your street very soon.

I had an email saying I couldn’t vote because I wasn’t on the electoral role (I am). I emailed the Labour Party saying it was a shame I’m not eligible because I think Owen Smith needs as many votes as he can get, today I received codes for my vote. I voted Corbyn.
Tell them you’re gonna vote for Smith and you’ll get a vote, how is this legal?

We will find out on I think, it’s the 24th September. Jeremy Corbyn has won this contest already. If the new labour infiltrators ballot rig, it will only make them look even more stupid than they actually are already. Polling can be wrong but at the moment it looks like an even bigger win for JC than last time. The establishment is trembling, the coup has failed and they know that people in this country are fed up with 3 Tory parties and want real lasting change, and the rich are shitting themselves with fear. When Corbyn wins he need to start the deselection of all Bliarites from the party and give working class people a restored Socialist party that was destroyed from within by the infiltrators. Labour need to ditch all of the PC middle class luvvie crap and concentrate on helping make this country fairer for all people. No one with half a brain cell cares about PC rubbish, this is only used to distract people from the real problems they face and it’s time to get real, make the rich start contributing to the rebuilding of our country with a strong NHS and restored welfare state and real jobs paying real wages. Hiding behind gated communities should be banned, it’s time they lived with the real people again and witness the destruction they have caused.

Jeremy has got mad love being beamed at him by hordes of new Labour party members. He will win with increased support. Trouble is, in the real world, a majority in the country are indifferent or even hostile to Mr Corbyn with him trailing Teresa May in a recent popularity poll by SIXTY POINTS unheard of previously I think I am correct in saying.

Yep! May is going to win the 2020 election by a landslide and Corbyn and his supporters are going to end up with egg on their face, but we all know that already… if we are like honest with ourselves. Corbyn hasn’t got a snowball’s chance in Hell of being PM.

Well to both of you I say this. Would you like to see a right wing New Labour Government run by another Blairite after the next election and a continuation of Austerity paid for by the Sick/Disabled and Unemployed or would you rather have real change. Because the way you seem to want it that is what you will get. I will accept Teresa Mays victory if it comes and as I say, better to see the Devil as he really is than pretending to be what he isn’t which is the New Labour project summed up in a nutshell. If Labour is still Tory at the next election I would rather suffer the real thing than a bunch of conning fakes.

Spot on again Truth; get these Bliarite scumbags deselected and out of the party as quick as their bloody legs will carry them. Then we can set about building a Labour party to be proud of again. I will return to voting Labour, as i have done all my life until recently, if JC is the leader of the party and we have a genuine socialist Labour party again instead of the tory party mk2

A number of coroners have come out and stated the DWP played a role in the death of their clients. The DWP have the cheek to say the coroners are wrong – who are you more likely to believe – the professionals whose job it is to investigate deaths or a Government department with its own agenda?

Coroner Michael Oakley said the DWP benefits assessment was key to the death of Nick Barker. Coroner Andrew Haigh concluded the death of Tim Salter was mostly caused by the DWP who drastically reduced his benefit.

Meanwhile these people died under questionable circumstances with the DWP. Cecilia Burns had cancer. The DWP declared her fit for work. She appealed the decision but died shortly after winning her appeal. Chris Cann was housebound after losing both legs and a finger. The DWP insisted he exited his home to attend a fit for work assessment. This shook Chris up badly and he died of a suspected heart attack. Leanne Chambers had depression for years. The DWP sent her a letter to attend a fit to work assessment. She left the house that night and her lifeless body was later found in the River Wear. David Clapson died after because he couldn’t power his fridge to keep his insulin cool after the DWP removed his benefits. DWP responded saying they were following procedure. David Groves stopped work after a string of strokes and a heart attack. DWP told Atos to call him in for a fit to work assessment. He died the night before. His widow said he was in a terrible state and the stress killed him. Stephen Hill suffered heart problems and was waiting for major heart surgery. DWP declared him fit to work following a ten minute Atos check. He died of a heart attack. Edward Jaqcues fatally overdosed because he was not given a correct assessment by the DWP an inquest heard. Brian McArdle was paralysed down one side and couldn’t speak. He died the day after being found fit for work by DWP. Mark Mullins & Helen Mullins died in an apparent suicide pact after not having the correct access to benefits. There are many more people like this.

If there is to be a divorce within the Labour party, then I would suggest that Akehurst contacts Pickfords, arranges hire of their largest vehicle, and makes a start on packing – as him and New Labour have a lot of unwanted crap to move out of the Labour party.

Because, Akehurst, you can keep your countless stealth taxes; you can keep your selling off of school playing fields; you can keep your four-in-ten children leaving school unable to read or write; you can keep your refusal to look at Hillsborough as a favour to Murdoch, you can keep your refusal to reverse Tory trade union legislation; you can keep your lack of regulating the buy-to-let landlord boom; you can keep your selling-off the nations gold for peanuts and you can keep your sticking to Tory spending plans.

You can keep your abysmal levels of spending on social housing; you can keep your erosion of legal aid; you can keep your attack on the right to trial by jury; you can keep your privatised prisons; you can keep your 40,000 new laws; you can keep your record prison populations; you can keep the highest recorded levels of homelessness; you can keep your hiring of ATOS and starting the attack on the disabled.

You can keep the creation of Yarl’s Wood and its culture; you can keep your refusal to properly regulate the privatised utilities; you can keep your dropping of clause IV; you can keep the racist Phil Woolas; you can keep the millennium dome; you can keep your attacks on firefighters; you can keep your love-in with Rupert Murdoch; you can keep your £300,000,000 of PFI debt and you can keep the PFI hospitals and schools that were so poorly constructed they are crumbling.

You can keep your hundreds of Quangos; you can keep your invasion of Iraq; you can keep your sending of soldiers to war with inadequate equipment; you can keep your lies, spin, and distortions to justify war; you can keep your unparalleled levels of snooping, cameras, and surveillance; you can keep your installation of Gordon Brown as Prime Minister and you can keep your ‘fixing’ of Frank Dobson as Labour candidate for London Mayor.

You can keep your closing of 32,000 NHS beds; you can keep the sleaziest government in history; you can keep Charlie Whelan, Alastair Campbell, Damian McBride, Peter Mandelson and other purveyors of snake-oil; you can keep your wasted £20,000,000,000 NHS IT project; you can keep your brown-nosing of big-business; you can keep your bribes from Bernie Ecclestone and you can keep your lobbyists, special advisors, and nepotism.

You can keep your stuffing of the House of Lords with spivs, brigands and assorted lickspittles; you can keep Jack Straw, torture, and rendition; you can keep your protection of General Pinochet; you can keep your electoral expenses scandals; you can keep Mandelson and Robinson’s dodgy loan; you can keep the Hinduja brothers scandal; you can keep the liar Stephen Byers and you can keep the racist David Blunkett.

You can keep your anti-terror legislation that was used against anyone and everyone; you can keep your expenses scandal; you can keep your control-freakery and attacks on internal party democracy, your parachuted-in PPCs, and your centrally selected approved lists of crony candidates; you can keep your attacks on Dr David Kelly and you can keep your kick-starting the privatisation of the NHS.

You can keep your bungs from business; you can keep your bringing big-business bosses into cabinet; you can keep your lies about Abu Ghraib; you can keep cabinet ministers who were seemingly incapable of keeping their cocks in their pants; you can keep your red-baiting, purges, attempts to subvert democracy and failed coups; you can keep your unwavering support for Israel and your wilful ignorance of the Palestinian struggle.

You can keep your pension raids; you can keep the dog-collar that George Bush led you with; you can keep your grubby relationships with dictators and despots; you can keep your tuition fees, top-up fees, and the lies you told about them at three successive elections; you can keep your doubling of gun crime and you can keep your doubling of violent crime.

You can keep your record levels of families in temporary accommodation; you can keep your closure of 100 special schools; you can keep the 10,000 Dentists that left the NHS on your watch; you can keep the loss of four million votes between 1997-2010; you can keep the halving of party membership by 2010; you can keep an almost permanent state of scandal and sleaze and you can keep your toxic legacy.

And, Luke Akehurst, you can fucking keep New Labour.

And all its shitheel devotees.

And for that matter, New Labour can fucking keep Luke Akehurst, as well

2600 DEATHS IN JUST A MATTER OF WEEKS OF BEING DECLARED FIT FOR WORK……..

The horrific death toll is revealed by Figures released by the Department of human services. Around 100 people per month have been dying, shortly after being ruled well enough to take a job.

There are many thousands more who have been forced into a situation that is having some form of detrimental effect on their health. This is a scandal too.

Some critics are demanding an inquiry. The controversial assessment process is being blamed. It is based on a table that lists a number of possible disabilities that might show a degree of incapacity to work. This is further refined through a number of sub-categories that carry with them a given weight in points. Then the person involved has to reach a minimum of 20 points to be considered for disability support.

On face value it may seem to some that this is a fair enough approach. It is not. In the first place, it is far too restrictive. At the bottom, it is heavily weighted towards visible physical disability. Many disabilities are not readily visible. Even those that are, generally have aspects that are not visible. Many do not fall neatly into the categories and sub-categories. Thus people not fit for work are assessed as fit for work.

This is no accident. It is clear from government policies and Centrelink procedures that there is an overriding to reduce the number of people receiving disability support. One just has to look at the increasing number of hoops and the introduction of activity agreements where the disabled already receiving benefits are compelled to move towards employment. The pressure is to join the ranks of a rising cheap labour force.

An assessment problem that primarily works as a means to minimise the number accepted, rather than placing health needs in first place, fits in well with the existing punitive policy.

In this case an inquiry is not really needed. There needs to be a change in policy. The present assessment procedure needs to be scrapped and replaced with one that puts the needs of the person being assessed in the first place. Is this too much to ask?

Have you not been watching the Paralympics, GEOFF? It is amazing what disabled people can do when they put their mind to it. And what do you mean by disabilities that are not invisible? ‘Stress’, ‘anxiety’, ‘depression’? Most bogus claims for ‘disability’ are for ‘depression’ and a ‘bad back’ because as we all know they can’t be proven either way. And don’t you think a jobseeker with their benefits stopped for three years suffers from stress, depression, anxiety? Yet nobody seems to care about this! All we seem to hear about it ‘disabled’ people being ‘thrown of off benefits’ i.e. being transferred to JSA as we learn that they have been claiming disability benefits for 30 odd years due to ‘depression stress, and anxiety’. And of course we all wonder just what they have to be depressed, anxious, and stressed about when they have decent housing, plenty of cash in their pocket and don’t have the hassle of trying to hold down a job, but hey, ho what do we know 😉

There are currently over 400,000 UK Pensioners currently living in the EU (DWP Tabulation Tool – November 2015), and they currently receive the “triple lock” annual update to their UK State Pension.

It is my understanding that, at some point after Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty has been triggered, then these 400,000 UK Pensioners will potentially lose their annual update to their UK State Pension

Reading your blog, I agree that the benefits cap will cause widespread misery and homelessness. I have created the following petition, and would appreciate as many as possible signing and sharing it. Although there may be petitions to revert the cap position. Impossibly high rents are also a major contribution to homelessness and poverty.

I couldn’t read the full article on this but I’ve just recently been for an assessment due to ill mental health after also being suicidal and seen by the crisis team. plus actual physical disabilities which can clearly be seen, the assessor scored me no points on the score sheet whatsoever! nil! I’ve already explained that ok well if you shove me into work and I have a breakdown during work hours and cant cope don’t fucking tell me I didn’t tell you I wasn’t well for work!

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